Man has been fascinated with fire since the beginning of time and has harnessed the power of fire for a great many uses. Even in our modern technological society man continues to utilize and enjoy fire in a wide variety of areas, such as outdoor cooking, campfires for enjoyment, wood stoves for heat, and fireplaces for warmth and beauty. While most of the previous are recreational in nature, starting a suitable fire can often be a frustrating experience, and for this reason a suitable fire starter is needed. With the growing popularity of canoeing, camping, back-country backpacking, and a variety of other outdoor activities, not only is there a need for a suitable fire starter, but also for one that is compact, light-weight, self-contained, and waterproof.
Given the requisite skill and sufficient time, anybody can satisfactorily build and start a fire. But in many instances, people today do not have the time, patience or proficiency to adequately gather the materials for starting a fire.
One method is to use old newspapers crumpled into balls, placed beneath the material to be burned, and ignited, but paper has a tendency to burn too fast, be blown out of position by high winds, and will not ignite after being wetted. Another method is to use shavings of wood, or very small pieces of kindling to start a small fire and gradually build up to a fire of suitable size. Making the shavings and gathering the kindling takes time and again they will not burn if wetted, such as by rain or snow. Both of these methods also require that a person has an independent source of ignition such as matches, flint and steel, or a cigarette lighter.
Another approach is to use flammable liquid fuels, such as kerosene, gasoline, or diesel. Pouring one of these products on the material to be burned and allowing it to permeate the material allows for rapid and intense ignition of the material when struck with an independent source of flame or sufficient heat. While popular for starting bonfires, these petroleum products have some serious drawbacks. First and foremost is an issue of safety. These products are volatile and extremely flammable, and present an explosion and fire hazard during storage and use. Additionally, because of this volatility, there is a rapid rate of evaporation and loss during use and before lighting.
Through the years various other methods have been devised in order to start fires more easily. U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,305 (Clayton, 1980), incorporated by reference herein, discloses a paraffin soaked cellulistic material which is useful for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,324 (Zulkowitz, 1986) incorporated by reference herein discloses a method for using newspaper with similar effect. Other patented methods include U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,444 Ryan, 1967, U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,396 (Burton, 1977) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,370 Gregory, 1986), all incorporated by reference herein.